


take advantage of the season

by deathbyglamour



Category: DAYS (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Confessions, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 17:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8853058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathbyglamour/pseuds/deathbyglamour
Summary: Tsukushi isn’t like the girls Kazama dated in the past.





	

Tsukushi isn’t like the girls Kazama dated in the past. 

‘Dated’ was maybe too strong a word for what he’d had with them – they were more like flings. Fun, to be sure, but not something either party intended to last beyond a couple weeks. The flings stopped altogether a few weeks after he met Tsukushi. Looking back, that was the first sign. It wasn’t anything intentional, at first. They just weren’t interesting enough to hold his attention over the new soccer club he was in. 

And then it was intentional. 

He’d tried, a little. Went on a few dates. The girls were pretty, and fun, but when he looked at them his mind supplied images of short hair and round, red cheeks, a shy smile and voice of different pitch, and nothing ever got off the ground. 

Hanging out with Tsukushi was just more fun, in the end. 

The thing about Tsukushi, though, was that he was oblivious. No amount of smiling, hair petting, or lingering touches seemed to clue him in. He just beamed back, and sometimes said something about how lucky he was to have Kazama for a friend. 

But it wasn’t like that. Kazama was the lucky one. 

The worst part was having no one to talk to about it. Tsukushi was his best friend, someone he could tell anything to – anything besides this. And like hell he was going to trust any of the blockheads on the team with his secret. The senpais could be reliable – well, some of them – but not for something like this. He was pretty sure he was the most romantically experienced member of the team, for starters. 

In the end, it got bad enough that he went to Ubukata. 

“Saw that coming,” she said around the straw of her drink. 

“You guys aren’t – anything – are you? I don’t want to be consulting with my rival.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Of course not, don’t be weird.”

Kazama leaned back against the plush of the café booth seat. It was something of a relief to hear her say that. Not that he’d been worried, or anything. 

“Besides, anyone could tell you have a thing for him. You’re always all over him.” 

“Anyone besides Tsukushi,” he said, propping his head up on his hand. “What do you think I should do?”

Ubukata straightened up, tossed her hair over one shoulder. “What’s this? The great Kazama Jin coming to me for relationship advice?”

Kazama rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You got anything helpful to say?”

“Of course.” She slurped down some of her drink. “Boys are always stupid like this. Just tell him how you feel.”

Kazama blinked. Ubukata sighed, exasperated. 

“You heard me. Be upfront with him. Trust me, he’ll be just thrilled to bits.” She eyed him. “Unless you’re scared?”

“Of course not,” he said immediately. 

His brain helpfully supplied an image of the scene: Tsukushi’s wide, wide eyes, staring him down while he tried to say it out loud, I like you –

He hastily gulped down the rest of his coffee. Ubukata rolled her eyes. 

 

In the end he goes with a tried and true method – a confession letter in his shoe cubby. 

It takes him five tries to write the letter and another week before he – decides – to actually give him the letter. It’s not about working up his courage, he tells himself. He’s just picking the right moment. 

Tsukushi, the letter reads, I have something to tell you. Meet me on the roof at lunch. 

Short and simple is the best approach, he figures. 

Kazama watches from around the corner when Tsukushi shows up that morning, ignoring the looks he gets from other students passing by. He bites down on his lip as Tsukushi opens the cubby. He’s reaching in, brows drawing together in confusion as he grabs the letter. He opens it, reads it –

A crestfallen expression crosses his face. Kazama exhales hard. Not exactly the reaction he was hoping for, or expecting at all. 

Tsukushi tucks the letter into his shoulder bag. Kazama makes himself scarce before the other boy can catch him watching. 

 

He doesn’t show up at lunch. Kazama spends the entire break waiting on the roof, and feels a little like a heartbroken middle school girl when the final bell rings. 

 

The new problem, then, is how to confront him about it. 

It doesn’t affect Kazama during practice. But afterwards, he slams his locker shut maybe a bit louder than necessary. Ubukata’s been eyeing him on and off ever since their talk, enough to make him regret ever coming to her. Her suggestion had been bullshit, anyway. 

Just as that thought enters his mind, god smiles on him for a moment. 

Beside him, as Tsukushi pulls his uniform shirt on, the letter flutters to the ground between them. They’re the only ones left in the locker room. It’s now or never.

Kazama snatches the letter up quick as a flash. 

“What’s this?” He asks. 

Tsukushi does one of those full-face blushes. “N-nothing!” he squeaks, reaching out to grab it back. 

Kazama holds it up over his head, thankful for the advantage of height. Tsukushi comes in close to grab at it, anchoring himself in place with a hand on Kazama’s shoulder. It’s this that winds up being the final straw.

Kazama unfurls the letter one-handed. “Looks like a love letter,” he says, too loud. 

“It’s not,” Tsukushi says, falling back but keeping his hand where it is. He casts his eyes downward. “It’s just a joke.”

“Wh- a joke?” Kazama’s so surprised he stops holding the letter above his head. 

“It used to happen a lot in middle school,” Tsukushi explains. “Some guys write a letter like that and then, when you show, they beat you up.”

Kazama spares a moment to be furiously angry at Tsukushi’s former classmates. 

“Tsukushi,” he says, slowly. They’re still so close together that the toes of their shoes are touching. “I wrote this letter.”

Tsukushi brings his head up fast, blinking surprise. “Oh! Kazama-kun, why didn’t you just say so?” He smiles easily. “What did you want to talk about? You could have just asked normally.”

Kazama grabs Tsukushi’s hand, maybe a little too hard. The other boy winces, his eyes widening. 

“Kazama-kun?”

“It was a love letter,” he says, forcing himself to meet Tsukushi’s eyes. “I wanted to confess my feelings.”

Tsukushi’s mouth forms a perfect ‘o.’ 

“Wh-what?”

He looks so positively bewildered that Kazama almost feels bad for him. 

“I like you, Tsukushi. Please go out with me.”

His heart is beating double-time in his chest, but his hands, wrapped around Tsukushi’s, are strangely steady. Ubukata’s voice rings in his head. He’ll be thrilled to bits. 

Tsukushi is silent for a long, long moment. Kazama waits, smiles at him. It’s all he can do. And then, as if following some unseen cue, Tsukushi’s eyes fill with tears. But Kazama isn’t worried, because he’s smiling back at him, wide and radiant. 

“Of course, Kazama-kun.” 

They don’t leave the locker room until much, much later.

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first time writing these guys, so i hope i did okay wrt characterizations. i just had to write a little something for this cute ship that has so few works!  
> title is from brand new start by little joy  
> thanks for reading! :)


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